NYS Lawmakers Plan to Extend Budget Talks Through April 16

New York State lawmakers plan to meet again on Thursday to pass another spending extender that will last until April 16. The budget was due April 1.

State Senate Majority Andrea Stewart-Cousins says she had hoped that the budget, now about ten days late, would have done by now. She says talks have been slow, and there have been other distractions, like a major celestial event on Monday.

“The eclipse has come and gone,” Stewart-Cousins said. “We didn't make that deadline, but we continue to work towards concluding the budget as quickly as possible.”

Stewart-Cousins says the Senate will break for the Muslim holiday of Eid that marks the end of fasting during the month of Ramadan, and then return briefly on Thursday to pass another extender through Tuesday, so that state workers and state contractors can continue to be paid.

The major issues that are unresolved in the budget include a housing package. It would build more affordable housing, offer tax breaks to developers who agree to add affordable units, and strengthen rights for tenants.

Stewart-Cousins says talks are “progressing” on how to crack down on the growing retail theft. Although Democrats in the legislature so far have not signed on to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to increase penalties for robbers who also assault a store employee.

Earlier this month, Hochul signaled that she might be willing to drop a controversial budget proposal that would have resulted in half of the state’s school districts receiving significantly less money from the state than they did in previous years. Hochul wanted to end the provision known as hold harmless, which guarantees that no school gets less funding than it did in the budget the year before.

The governor told reporters she was leaning instead toward a study to change the state’s foundation aid formula going forward, putting off any potential cuts until at least a year or two into the future.

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